Faucet drinking fountain attachment



Jam. 17, 19.39. J R 'HUNNEMAN 2,144,062

FAUCET DRINKING FOUNTAIN ATTACHMENT Filed March 25, 1937 Patented Jan.17, 1939 UNITED STATES FAUCET DRINKING FOUNTAIN ATTACH- MENT John R.Hunneman, Woburn, Mass. 7 Application March 25, 1937, S erialNo. 132,982

1 Claim.

My present invention is a novel and improved attachment which may beutilized with a standard type of water faucet for the purposemomentarily of employing the same as a drinking fountain, my inventionenabling such fountain attachment to be readily moved into or out ofposition, as well as to enable the same to be attached to existingfaucets or to be incorporated permanently in the faucet structure.

Heretofore various efforts have been made to utilize a drinking fountainattachment in connection with a water faucet, such for example as theusual kitchen or bathroom type of faucet, but these prior devices havebeen cumbersome, impractical, difficult to attach, as well as expensiveand, furthermore, have been an obstruction to the ordinary use of thefaucet.

In my present invention I have eliminated the difficulties above brieflyoutlined and have provided an extremely simple attachable fountainconstruction readily removable into or out of operative position, and,when inoperative, to free entirely the use of the faucet for ordinaryservme.

In the case of kitchen faucets particularly it is important to have fullclearance under the delivery end of the faucet so that kettles, pots,pans, or the like may be slid into position under the same for filling.Therefore, any attachment which decreases the clearance or heightaccorded by such usual and standard type of faucet and sink constructionis objectionable, and my invention enabling complete removal of thedrinking fountain attachment from the delivery end of the faucet is ofgreat value and importance in this type of device.

A further important feature consists in the facility of adjustment andattachment, enabling my device to be conveniently secured to a faucetand in position for moving, sliding, or swinging into operative positionfor fountain delivery, or to be removed therefrom instantly and tomaintain its position either when in operative or in nonoperativeposition.

A still further feature consists in my arrangement whereby the necessityof all tight contacts or connections between the delivery end of thefaucet and the drinking fountain, such former devices requiring washers,gaskets, multiplicity of fittings, etc are entirely eliminated, mydevice when swung or slid into position being spaced from the faucet andpicking up and transferring a proportionate amount only of the waterflowing from the delivery end.

A still further feature is that my conveying member to receive aproportion only of the water from the delivery end of the faucet willconduct the same as a conduit, pipe, or trough, at a suitable space fromthe faucet to permit use as a fountain or bubbler, together with aproper flare 5 or angle to conduct the flow of water therealong at anoutwardly flaring angle relatively with the faucet. This enables ashort, small, and light delivery conduit to be employed and yet toproject the water for drinking at a suitable distance 10 from the faucetfor drinking in a convenient position.

Other advantages, novel combinations, and features will be hereinaftermore fully pointed out and claimed.

Referring to the drawing illustrating preferred embodiments of myinvention,

Fig. 1 is a side view of a typical water faucet equipped with mydrinking fountain illustrating a method of applying same; 20

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the form shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown a standard type of deliveryfaucet I, such as commonly utilized in kitchen sinks, household washbasins, and the like, with a delivery end 2 de- 25 flected downwardly.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, my device comprises a curveddelivery conduit 3, having a water receiving opening 4 and a deliveryopening 5 constructed and arranged to receive a proportion only of theflow of water from the delivery opening 2 of the faucet i. Secured tothe conduit 3 in this particular form shown as a closed pipe is awire-attaching member consisting in a stem Ill bent into an encirclinghooklike portion 35 G2 with an extension l4 ending in a U-shapedhooklike member Hi. This wire It] may be secured in any suitable ordesired manner to the conduit 3, as herein shown, being bent into an eyeor loop l5, which is engaged by a pair of ears 40 i8 and i9 secured orsoldered to the member 3 and bent around the loop portions l5 of thewireattaching means It. In order to attach my device 3 to the faucet l Ihook the U-shaped portion It, as shown in dotted lines Fig. 1, under thedelivery spout 2 and then slide the same rearwardly so that theencircling portion I2 will engage the top of the faucet l, whereupon theentire device can be slid rearwardly or forwardly with the weightsupported by the hooklike encircling member l2 and held in position bythe leverage exerted by the weight of the member 3 on the upturnedU-shaped member I4.

. Thus the device may be attached to or readily removed from a faucet,and when attached may be left permanently in position and slidbackwardly or rearwardly to be out of the way in inoperative position,or forwardly as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in operative position.

As shown in Fig. 1, I may form an automatic stop 58 which will contactwith the edge of the delivery end. of the faucet to limit the forwardmovement of the attachment and to have the conduit in registertherewith. Where the faucet is specially curved the member l2 willconstitute a stop.

An important feature of having my conduit 3 adapted to receive andconduct only a portion of the flow from the faucet is that the conduit 3Will be suitable for use with any size of faucet as it is unecessary tohave the delivery end of the faucet 2 and the receiving end 4 of theconduit 8 in registry. Thus my device is capable of use with any sizefaucet.

In Fig. 2 I have broken away the forward part of the faucet, as shown atIT, in order toillustrate in plan view the hooked portion N5 of themember I!) and the attaching means.

t will thus be seen that I have devised a novel, simple, and efficientdrinking conduit readily attachable to or detachable from the faucet forutilization as a drinking fountain or bubbler, which also may bepermanently or adjustably secured, and in all forms the conduit willautomatically cooperate with any size faucet and is movable into or outof operative position at will.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that my novel conduit device mayalso be utilized with any device or means which constitutes a handle, sothat it may be manually positioned in registry with the delivery openingof the faucet and either with or without a convenient stop, guide, oraligning device to hold the same in proper registering position. Thedetachable form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 affords such a holdingmeans in addition to the faucet attaching element.

I claim:

A device of the kind described adapted to cooperate with a faucet toutilize the flow of water therefrom as a drinking fountain, comprising acurved conduit adapted to register with the delivery end of the faucetand to receive a proportional part of the liquid flow therefrom andconduct the same into drinking delivery, in combination with removableattaching means comprising a pair of U-shaped spaced faucet-engagingmembers, one member adapted to engage the top of the faucet and theother member adapted to engage the under surface of the faucet saidmembers being so arranged as to provide for removal or rearwarddisplacement of the conduit at will.

JOHN R. HUNNEMAN.

